Al-Siyasa al-Shar'iyya - Ibn Taimiya - (الكتاب/36)

Al-Siyasa al-Shar'iyyaIbn Taimiya

of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “The strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah than the weak believer, though there is good in both. Be diligent in pursuing what benefits you, seek Allah’s aid, and do not lose heart. If something befalls you, do not say, ‘If only I had done such-and-such, then such-and-such would have happened.’ Rather, say, ‘Allah decreed, and He does whatever He wills,’ for ‘if only’ opens the door to Satan’s work.”

Through the first kind of strength, a person becomes one of those who emigrate by abandoning what Allah has forbidden, and one of those who strive against their own souls for Allah’s sake. This is the struggle against the inner enemy: Satan and caprice.

Through the second kind of strength, he becomes one of those who emigrate and strive in Allah’s cause, fighting His enemies and supporting Allah and His Messenger. It is through them that the religion is upheld.

A man will often possess one of these two kinds of strength without the other, and his affairs will be deficient accordingly. For this reason, scholars advised that anyone entrusted with the judiciary or another position of authority should be firm without harshness and gentle without weakness—like the human hand [أ/ق 11], which combines strength with softness. It is neither rigid in its strength like bone or stone nor weak in its softness like blood or water. A person who is strong in dealing with others but lacks mastery over himself—so that he is not forbearing, magnanimous, gentle with people, and patient with the harm they cause—will possess such anxious impatience and distress that he treats both them and himself unjustly, to the point that his very courage may destroy him.

Conversely, a person may have mastery over himself and resist his desires, yet lack the strength and authority over people needed to compel them to adhere to the truth. They will then depart from the truth, fail to fulfill their obligations, and fail to refrain from what is forbidden.

Two men may both possess praiseworthy qualities, yet one may excel the other in some of them. The Rightly Guided Caliphs were each endowed with virtues by which

الله ﷺ: «المؤمن القوي خيرٌ وأحبُّ إلى الله من المؤمن الضعيف وفي كلٍّ خير، احرص على ما ينفعُك واستعن بالله ولا تعجز، وإن أصابك شيء فلا تقل: لو أني فعلت لكان كذا وكذا، ولكن قل: قَدَرُ الله وما شاء فعل، فإنَّ لو تفتحُ عملَ الشيطان». فبالقوَّة الأولى يصير المرء من المهاجرين الذين هجروا ما نهى الله عنه، ومن المجاهدين الذين جاهدوا نفوسهم في الله، وهو جهاد العدو الباطن من الشيطان والهوى. وبالقوة الثانية يصير من المهاجرين المجاهدين في سبيل الله، الذين جاهدوا أعداءه ونصروا الله ورسوله، وبهم يقوم الدين. وكثيرًا ما يحصل للرجل إحدى القوتين دون الأخرى، فيختلُّ من أمره بحسب ذلك؛ ولهذا وصَّى العلماء لمن ولي القضاء وغيره من الولايات: أن يكون قويًّا من غير عنف، ليِّنًا من غير ضعف، بمنزلة كف الإنسان [أ/ق ١١] اجتمعت فيه القوة واللين، ليس يابسًا في قوته كالعظم والحجر، ولا ضعيفًا في لِيْنِه كالدم والماء، فإنَّ مَن كان قويًّا على الناس ولم يكن قويًّا على نفسه حتى يكون حليمًا كريمًا ليِّنًا للناس صبورًا على أذاهم= كان فيه من الهَلَع والضيق ما يصير به عاسفًا لهم ولنفسه حتى قد تهلكه شجاعته. ومن كان قويًّا على نفسه مخالفًا لهواه، إلا أنه ليس فيه قوة على الناس وسلطان يحملهم به على الحق= خرجوا عن الحق، ولم يؤدوا الواجبات ولم يتركوا المحرَّمات. وقد يكون الرجلان مُتَّصِفَين بالصفات الحميدة، وبعضهم أكمل في بعضها من بعض، فإن الخلفاء الراشدين كلٌّ منهم موصوف بالفضائل التي